Blinken to push Israel to scale back Gaza assault, begin talks on post-war governance
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is in Tel Aviv, where he will try to convince the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to begin serious negotiations on postwar governance in Gaza, do more to protect civilians in Gaza, and allow more aid into the territory.
“I will press on the absolute imperative to do more to protect civilians and to do more to make sure that humanitarian assistance is getting into the hands of those who need it,” said Blinken, who has spent the past two days holding talks with Arab leaders.
Israeli officials, meanwhile, will tell Blinken that civilians in Gaza will not be allowed back to the north of the territory unless more of the hostages held by Hamas are released, Axios reported citing two senior Israeli officials.
The US has offered staunch support to Israel since the outbreak of its war with Hamas three months ago, but Netanyahu has angered Washington by so far refusing to offer any detailed public plans for the governance of Gaza when Israel’s military offensive ends. He has rejected the US’s preferred option, the creation of unified Palestinian state comprising of the West Bank and Gaza.
Israel has also come under growing pressure from the US, its closest ally, and Arab leaders to scale back its assault on Gaza.
The US president, Joe Biden, confronted on Monday by protesters shouting “ceasefire now” while visiting an historic Black church in South Carolina, said he had been “quietly” working to encourage Israel to ease its attacks and “significantly get out of Gaza”.
Israeli officials have said the operation is entering a new phase of more targeted warfare, but there has been no apparent respite in the fighting. The death toll in Gaza has continued to mount steadily, with at least 23,084 Palestinians killed and thousands more buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
Blinken is also on a mission to prevent the conflict from escalating further; in the latest signs the war is spreading beyond the borders of Israel and Gaza, Israel killed a top commander of Hamas’s ally Hezbollah in south Lebanon on Monday as well as a Hamas commander in Syria.
Key events
The Israeli military has published the names of four soldiers who have died in Gaza, bringing the total number of those killed in the territory to 182.
The dead were named as Sgt 1st Class (res) Gavriel Bloom, Sgt 1st Class (res) David Schwartz, Sgt 1st Class (res) Yair Hexter, and Sgt Roi Tal.
Graphic video has emerged from the West Bank, showing three men being shot dead at close range by Israeli forces on Monday night in the city of Tulkarem.
The videos, which are circulating on social media and could not be verified, show soldiers continuing to fire at an injured Palestinian lying on the ground and an Israeli armoured vehicle running over one of the bodies of the dead man before halting and then continuing over the body, dragging it for several metres.
The Israeli military (IDF) claimed the men were militants, according to Al Jazeera. The broadcaster said that the militant Tulkarem Brigade said only one of those killed was a fighter. Neither claim could be verified.
A fourth man was reportedly shot in the leg and arrested by the Israeli military.
Al Jazeera said clashes broke out in Tulkarem after the IDF went into arrest a wanted Palestinian fighter.
The city, and much of the West Bank, have been the scene of repeated clashes since the Hamas invasion of 7 October, as the IDF carries out raids.
A total of 329 Palestinians have been killed by the IDF and Israeli settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 7 October, according to the UN. The dead include 84 children.
More than 4,000 Palestinians, including more than 600 children, have been injured in the West Bank.
Blinken to push Israel to scale back Gaza assault, begin talks on post-war governance
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is in Tel Aviv, where he will try to convince the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to begin serious negotiations on postwar governance in Gaza, do more to protect civilians in Gaza, and allow more aid into the territory.
“I will press on the absolute imperative to do more to protect civilians and to do more to make sure that humanitarian assistance is getting into the hands of those who need it,” said Blinken, who has spent the past two days holding talks with Arab leaders.
Israeli officials, meanwhile, will tell Blinken that civilians in Gaza will not be allowed back to the north of the territory unless more of the hostages held by Hamas are released, Axios reported citing two senior Israeli officials.
The US has offered staunch support to Israel since the outbreak of its war with Hamas three months ago, but Netanyahu has angered Washington by so far refusing to offer any detailed public plans for the governance of Gaza when Israel’s military offensive ends. He has rejected the US’s preferred option, the creation of unified Palestinian state comprising of the West Bank and Gaza.
Israel has also come under growing pressure from the US, its closest ally, and Arab leaders to scale back its assault on Gaza.
The US president, Joe Biden, confronted on Monday by protesters shouting “ceasefire now” while visiting an historic Black church in South Carolina, said he had been “quietly” working to encourage Israel to ease its attacks and “significantly get out of Gaza”.
Israeli officials have said the operation is entering a new phase of more targeted warfare, but there has been no apparent respite in the fighting. The death toll in Gaza has continued to mount steadily, with at least 23,084 Palestinians killed and thousands more buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
Blinken is also on a mission to prevent the conflict from escalating further; in the latest signs the war is spreading beyond the borders of Israel and Gaza, Israel killed a top commander of Hamas’s ally Hezbollah in south Lebanon on Monday as well as a Hamas commander in Syria.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East with me, Helen Livingstone.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken is in Tel Aviv, where he will hold meetings aimed at persuading prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back Israel’s assault on Gaza, and begin serious negotiations on postwar governance in Gaza as well as doing more to protect civilians there.
Israeli officials meanwhile will tell Blinken that civilians in Gaza will not be allowed back to the north of the territory unless more of the hostages held by Hamas are released, Axios reported citing two senior Israeli officials.
Blinken, who flew in late Monday from the Saudi oasis town of AlUla, has spent the past two days holding talks with Arab leaders. He said he had found a “clear interest in the region” in normalising relations with Israel, but only if the war ended and a clear pathway to Palestinian statehood could be found.
On his fourth trip to the Middle East in the three months Blinken is also attempting to stop the conflict spreading beyond Israel and Gaza; Israel killed a top commander of Hamas’ ally Hezbollah in south Lebanon on Monday as well as a Hamas commander in Syria.
More on that soon. In other key developments:
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At least 23,084 Palestinians have been killed and 58,926 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, according to the latest figures by the Gaza health ministry on Monday. The ministry, which is run by Hamas, said 249 Palestinians were killed and 510 were wounded in the previous 24 hours.
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The UN rights office has said it is “very concerned” by the number of journalists killed in the war in Gaza, a day after two Al Jazeera reporters were killed in an alleged Israeli strike on their car. The killing of journalists “must be thoroughly, independently investigated to ensure strict compliance with international law, and violations prosecuted”, the UN office said on Monday. Meanwhile, Israel’s supreme court has rejected a request from international media organisations to allow journalists to report in Gaza.
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The only hospital remaining in central Gaza is on the verge of shutting down amid intense fighting that has engulfed the area, a UN spokesperson has said. Medics, patients and displaced people have been fleeing from Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, according to witnesses. The Israeli military has dropped leaflets designating areas surrounding Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah as a “red zone”, the International Rescue Committee said.
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Three Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday.
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Joe Biden’s speech at Mother Emanuel church in Charleston, South Carolina, was interrupted by pro-Palestine activists, who called for a ceasefire in Gaza. As the protest dissipated, Biden said: “I have been quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce and significantly get out of Gaza and using all that I can to do that.”
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Israel has killed a senior military commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, Wissam Hassan al Tawil, in an air strike in southern Lebanon approximately 6km from the border. It comes amid warnings from Lebanese security sources that the assassination could lead to a further escalation in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Shia armed movement.
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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it has killed a Hamas operative who it claimed was responsible for rockets attacks against Israel from Syria. Hassan Hakashah was killed by Israeli forces in Beit Jinn in Syria, the IDF said in a statement on Monday.
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Israel is carrying out an unprecedented wave of deadly strikes in Syria targeting cargo trucks, infrastructure and people involved in Iran’s weapons lifeline to its proxies in the region, sources have told Reuters. The sources said Israel had shifted strategies following the 7 October attack by Hamas fighters into Israeli territory and the ensuing Israeli bombing campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.
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The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement has released video footage it claimed showed an Israeli hostage taken during the 7 October attacks. The hostage has been named by Israeli media as Elad Katzir, 47, from Nir Oz kibbutz.
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UN experts have demanded accountability for sexual violence allegedly carried out by Hamas militants against Israeli civilians during the 7 October attacks, saying that mounting evidence of rapes and genital mutilation point to possible crimes against humanity. Israeli authorities have opened an investigation into possible sexual crimes during the most deadly attack on Israel in its history.
